Category: Other Series PR

Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

[media-credit name=”IZOD IndyCar Series” align=”alignright” width=”360″][/media-credit]1. Downforce reduction for Iowa puts racing in drivers’ hands

2. Halfway through season, title competition fierce

3. Iowa heat race fields to be determined by one practice

4. Inside the Box Score – Milwaukee IndyFest presented by XYQ

1. Downforce reduction for Iowa puts racing in drivers’ hands: Pursuant to input from IZOD IndyCar Series drivers and team engineers, INDYCAR has directed a maximum rear flap angle of 37 degrees with no wicker allowed for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 23 at Iowa Speedway.

The technical bulletin sent to teams June 18 follows two days of testing by 21 cars total at the .875-mile oval last week. The rule will reduce downforce available by about 8-9 percent.

“Like Texas, we want to make sure the challenge is in the drivers’ hands and make them work each lap,” said Will Phillips, vice president of technology, INDYCAR. “It will be more of a challenge for drivers once their tires start to go off (during the 250-lap race).”

Aside from this alteration, the short oval aerodynamic package utilized at the Milwaukee Mile this past weekend will be employed – mandatory speedway front brake backing plates, prohibit rear wheel infils and sidepod top deck, optional two-thirds radiator inlet shutters.

In a departure from single-car qualifications, three heat races will be held June 22 to set the starting grid for the 250-lap race. Marco Andretti held off former Andretti Autosport teammate Tony Kanaan by 0.7932 of a second to win the 2011 race.

2. Halfway through season, title competition fierce: Tony Kanaan opened the post-race news conference with his own question: “Can we race here again, that race that is missing?”

The runner-up to Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by XYQ would be among 25 IZOD IndyCar Series proponents to fill the gap in the August schedule created by the cancellation of the China race with a follow-up visit to the Milwaukee Mile.

That’s not under consideration, but it was announced just before the green flag that the historic venue will again play host to the series in June 2013. At least that’s something for Kanaan, who has finished no worse than fourth in six of his eight starts at the Mile. It was the best finish of the season for the 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion, who moved to eighth in the championship standings.

“Second place, we’ll take it,” said Kanaan, who noted that his Chevrolet-powered No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics/KV Racing Technology car didn’t have enough speed to chase down Hunter-Reay in the final laps. “We’re building some points. I had two terrible races in the beginning of the season (St. Petersburg and Barber). I came to Brazil, I was dead last in the championship. So I’m happy.”

 

Being only 43 points out of second place at the halfway point of the schedule would please just about anyone in this competitive series.

There have been six different winners (representing four teams) of the eight races. Three teams are represented in the top five and six in the top 10 of the standings heading into the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 23.

Will Power of Team Penske, who scored three consecutive road/street course victories, is the championship front-runner. He also was the points leader in 2011 following Milwaukee(the eighth of 17 races).

James Hinchcliffe of Andretti Autosport is 31 points back in second (243) after claiming his second podium finish of the season at Milwaukee in the No. 27 GoDaddy.com car.

“I think not thinking championship is what maybe got us to this point,” said the sophomore IZOD IndyCar Series driver who has finished no lower than sixth in all but one race (contact at Detroit relegating him to 21st). “I think that just shows how hard everybody at Andretti Autosports has been working. We’re finishing races, staying on lead laps and things like that. The consistency is paying off.”

Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing is third with 239 points, and Hunter-Reay moved to fourth in the standings with 233 points with his sixth Indy car victory and second at the Mile.

“Every race is very important. These points are very precious each and every race,” Hunter-Reay said a few minutes after Kanaan opened the proceedings.

Upcoming races with 2011 podium finishers and championship leader:

Iowa Speedway – Marco Andretti (winner), Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon.

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+20)

Streets of Toronto – Dario Franchitti (winner), Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+55)

Edmonton City Centre Airport – Will Power (winner), Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+38)

Mid-Ohio – Scott Dixon (winner), Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+62)

Sonoma – Will Power (winner), Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+26)

Streets of Baltimore – Will Power (winner), Oriol Servia, Tony Kanaan

Championship leader – Dario Franchitti (+5)

Auto Club Speedway — IZOD IndyCar Series returns after seven-year absence

3. Iowa heat race fields to be determined by one practice: INDYCAR has amended the procedure to determine qualification groups for the three heat races to be held June 22 at Iowa Speedway to set the starting grid for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 the next night.

Qualification groups will be determined by lap times recorded by entries on the .875-mile oval in the second (45-minute) practice session (3:30 p.m. ET). Qualifications are scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (ET).

Race 1 will consist of the even-numbered positions, starting with the 10th-quickest practice time, and determine the even-numbered positions in the starting field from 10th down.

Race 2 will consist of the odd-numbered positions, starting with the ninth-quickest practice time, and determine the odd-numbered positions in the starting field from ninth down.

Race 3 will consist of drivers ranked one through eight from the practice. Results of Race 3 will determine the first four rows, with the winner taking the pole position.

4. Inside the Box Score – Milwaukee IndyFest presented by XYQ: Numbers to note following theMilwaukee IndyFest presented by XYQ, the eighth of 16 events of the 2012 IZOD Indy Car Series season.

2 – Drivers to finish every race this season – Ed Carpenter and Simon Pagenaud…Number of laps Pagenaud has failed to complete in 2012 (1,061 of 1,063)

6 – Indy car wins for Ryan Hunter-Reay, the most by a current American-born Indy car driver…Different teams represented in the top 10 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

 

12 – Different drivers to finish on the podium in the first seven races of 2012.

15 – Different drivers with at least one top-five finish in 2012.

16 – Positions gained by Oriol Servia en route to his fourth-place finish at Milwaukee, most of any driver in the field.

27 – Poles for Dario Franchitti, tying Al Unser for eighth on the all-time list

31 – Points separating Will Power (274) from James Hinchcliffe (243) in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings.

84 – Laps led by Hunter-Reay. Most by any race winner this season.

107 – Points scored on ovals by James Hinchcliffe, who leads the A.J. Foyt Trophy standings.

189 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland.

***

The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series race continues with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 23 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 8 p.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Sukup 100 on June 22 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network as part of coverage of the Iowa Corn Indy 250. NBC Sport Network’s coverage of the Firestone Indy Lights 100 is scheduled for 5 p.m., on June 21.

[media-credit name=”iowacorn.org” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Andretti Autosport, IZOD IndyCar Series
Race Preview: Iowa Corn Indy 250

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus SodaChevrolet, No. 28

Ryan Hunter-Reay comes to the Iowa Speedway as the winner of the Milwaukee IndyFest, leading 84 laps for his second win at the Milwaukee Mile and his sixth career IndyCar victory. The driver of the No. 28 DHL / Sun Drop machine is now in fourth place in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, 10 points behind his Andretti Autosport teammate Hinchcliffe after eight of 16 races in the 2012 season.

“Marco (Andretti) won there last year, so combined with my win (at Milwaukee), Andretti Autosport really goes in with a lot of momentum. Even though Iowa is a 7/8-mile track, it races a lot more like a mile-and-a-half super speedway than it does a short track. It’s high-banked, so it’s a reset from Milwaukee, which is flat. You really have to have a super speedway mentality to race there.

“I’m interested to see what we have with the new car and new downforce – we don’t know what to expect there (at Iowa). With the qualifying heats, it’s going to be mixed-up but we’ll make the most of it. It’s tough because you’ll really have to take it easy and not hurt your race car in a heat race. Marco tested there and said it would be tough to pass, but it’s always been that way in the past, and then we start the race and it becomes a ‘passfest!’”

Did You Know?: After Hunter-Reay’s win at Milwaukee, Andretti Autosport has now won the last three short oval (one mile or less) races for the IZOD IndyCar Series. Andretti is the defending winner at Iowa, and Hunter-Reay won the race last year at Loudon, New Hampshire.

James Hinchcliffe, Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, No. 27

Hinchcliffe, will make his second IndyCar career start at Iowa Speedway this weekend, he finished ninth at the 7/8-mile oval in 2011.

“This team has given us good cars at every type of racetrack this year, so having Milwaukee successfully under our belt – the other short oval – we are all excited to get to Iowa. Marco had a good test there last week, and of course won there last year, so that gives us a bit of a boost coming into the weekend. We’re just going to try and keep doing what we’ve been doing with the Go Daddy car – stay consistent and run toward the front. Hopefully we can strengthen our lead in the oval race and narrow the gap with Will (Power) in the overall points.”

On the heat race qualifying format for this weekend’s race.

“Certainly, there’s a bit of an unknown going into this race and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. I think it’s cool we’re trying something different and we’ll see if this format is the right way to do it. We won’t know until we get out there and give it a run. It puts a lot of emphasis on practice, especially practice (session) two, which could be unfortunate. You could be quick in practice one and then have a bad second session and be out of luck, which isn’t entirely fair. It does change our focus a bit; in practice we are trying to set up for our race cars and be sure we have the best car over a distance. Now for session two we have to focus on making it quick for at least one lap to get into a good group for the heat races. I think everyone is anxious and excited to see how it plays out.”

Did You Know:? Hinchcliffe is currently leading the IZOD IndyCar Series battle for the A.J. Foyt Oval Championship and is sitting second in the overall Series points standings.

Marco Andretti, Team RC Cola Chevrolet, No. 26

Marco Andretti is the defending race winner at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 race at Iowa Speedway. Starting 17th in 2011, Marco charged to the front to take a thrilling victory after a late-race duel with former teammate Tony Kanaan. Andretti will have the Iowa Corn logo on his No. 26 RC Cola car this weekend, and has starred in a series of radio and TV commercials for Iowa Corn and E85 ethanol fuel.

“We are coming (to Iowa) ready to win. We did it last year, and we were really strong in the test (last week at the Iowa Speedway). I need a win now more than ever because we’ve been fast almost every week, but we just keep having something go wrong. I’ve been in Iowa a lot lately, doing commercials and traveling across the state promoting E85 ethanol and Iowa Corn, so I’d really love to be able to make it two-in-a-row here Saturday night. It would really mean a lot to me.”

Did You Know:? After seeing freshly shaven teammate Hunter-Reay win a race after suffering mechanical woes while wearing a beard, Marco hinted about doing the same thing. “Think I’m going to have to shave my beard for luck,” Andretti tweeted Monday afternoon.

Fans Can Win Behind-the-Scenes Experience at RogersTV.com

OYSTER BAY, N.Y., June 18 — Star Mazda driver Ryan Tveter of Team GDT is pleased to announce he’ll be doing a multi-faceted marketing promotion with Rogers TV for his races that are part ofHonda Indy Toronto July 6-8 at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario.

As part of its involvement, Rogers TV is launching a contest on RogersTV.com to win a special behind-the-scenes experience atHonda Indy Toronto.  The grand prize winner and his or her guest will be able to visit with Tveter and his team throughout the weekend in the Star Mazda paddock, located inside the Direct Energy Centre Building in Hall B and Hall C. They’ll also receive passes for the IZOD IndyCar Series garage area and VIP pit walk-through passes. Two premium Gold Grandstand seats for Saturday and Sunday’s races are also included. Additional perks include a buffet lunch and beverage service on Sunday.

No purchase is required for entry. The contest is open to residents of Ontario, Canada who are 18 or older and the winners will be required to sign eligibility, liability and publicity releases. All travel expenses are the responsibility of the winner and his or her guest.

Rogers TV is also producing a documentary on the Honda Indy Toronto and Team GDT.  The documentary will give viewers a look at some of the behind-the-scenes work that can affect what happens on the racetrack.  The documentary will air on Rogers TV Toronto later this season.

Tveter, 18, is an outstanding teenager by anyone’s standards and one of the most promising rookies competing in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. He’s running a partial schedule this season due to his heavy workload at school. He was recently graduated with honors from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn.  He’ll start classes at the renowned Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. in August, where he’ll study engineering and environmental science.  He hails from Oyster Bay, N.Y. and Meilen, Switzerland.  He’s visited more than 50 countries and he speaks both English and French.  He’s been a master diver since the age of 14, he plays trombone and hockey and he’s also passionate about sustainability and solving our planet’s environmental problems.

Tveter’s engineer is noted Canadian open-wheel engineer Remi Lanteigne, who has worked with drivers such as Helio Castroneves, Jacques Villeneuve Sr., Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier in the past.

Tveter is accessible to fans via Facebook (facebook.com/RyanTveter), Twitter (twitter.com/RyanTveter or @RyanTveter) and YouTube (youtube.com/user/RyanTveter).

Team GDT also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. More information about the Star Mazda series can be found at StarMazda.com. The Honda Indy Toronto’s Web site is at HondaIndyToronto.com, while information on the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Mazda Road to Indy can be found on IndyCar.com.

About Rogers TV:

Rogers TV is a unique TV channel where community members take an active role in conceptualizing and producing programming for local audiences. Its staff and volunteers produce informative and entertaining local programming, reinforcing Rogers’ commitment to the communities it serves. Rogers Communications is Canada’s largest provider of wireless voice and data communications services and one of Canada’s leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services. Rogers TV is only available to Rogers’ customers, including the company’s 2.3 million cable customers in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. For more information on Rogers Communications Inc., visit rogers.com. For more informationon Rogers TV, visit rogerstv.com.

About the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear:

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is part of the Mazda Road to Indy. The 2012 schedule includes 17 races on 10 weekends, most with the IZOD IndyCar Series. Rising stars from around the world compete on road courses, street circuits and ovals in front of more than a million fans and vie for prizes valued at $1.2 million, including a $600,000 scholarship from Mazda to advance to Firestone Indy Lights in 2013. Drivers 16 and older are eligible. The series features standing starts and wheel-to-wheel racing at 160 mile per hour. For more information on the series please visit starmazda.com.

About Team GDT:

Team GDT is a multi-car professional race team headquartered in Dallas that is owned by businessman and racing driver J.W. Roberts. The team focuses on the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, the second step in the IZOD IndyCar Series’ Mazda Road to Indy, and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge.

In 2011 Team GDT won its second Star Mazda Expert Series championship in a row with Roberts behind the wheel. The Expert Series is a race-within-a-race and a championship-within-a-championship for drivers 30 and older. Roberts won the Expert title driving his Team GDT/General Data Tech Mazda No. 65 with a total of five class victories. Team GDT is also well known for nurturing rising stars, including Motorsport Ireland “Young Racing Driver of the Year” Patrick McKenna and multi-Star Mazda race winners Alex Ardoin and Richard Kent. This year it is fielding Star Mazda cars for rookies Ryan Tveter and Andrés Méndez. Fans can learn more about Team GDT on its Facebook page or through Twitter @TeamGDT.

Newgarden Knocked Out of Milwaukee IndyFest by Fuel Pressure Issues

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]West Allis, Wisc., Sunday, June 16, 2012 – After climbing out of his No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) Dallara/Honda/Firestone car at the Milwaukee IndyFest Josef Newgarden had one thing to say: “I’m ready to go to Iowa.”

Iowa is the next race on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, and Newgarden is ready to get there.

He had a strong start from 17th at the Milwaukee Mile and immediately began picking off several cars early in the race.

“It looked like Josef was really good there at the beginning,” Mike O’Gara, team manager for SFHR, said. “He picked up four or five spots and was gaining on the guys in front of him. Then we started having some fuel pressure problems.”

After only a handful of laps, Newgarden came on the radio and told his team that the fuel pressure alarm was going off in the car. SFHR refueled the car in hopes that it would help the issue, but Newgarden was forced to pull the car behind the wall for repair.

“Something was wrong inside the fuel cell,” O’Gara said. “We pride ourselves on the quality of race cars that we turn out, but something beyond our power failed today. We’ll take the car back to the shop, inspect everything and replace everything we can.”

Newgarden was the first car to retire from the Milwaukee IndyFest race, and therefore finished in the 25th position after completing 48 of 225 laps.

SFHR and Newgarden will now focus on ridding themselves of the monkey that has been on their backs throughout the first half of the season.

 

“We’re just going to have to go to Iowa and kick everyone’s butt,” Newgarden said. “Seriously though, that’s what we need to do. We have to focus on the next race. We got unlucky again this weekend, which is what has happened all year. It’s got nothing to do with the team, we’re just not catching any breaks.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to victory at the MilwaukeeIndyFest. He was followed by Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Oriol Servia and EJ Viso, who rounded out the top-five.

Hunter-Reay led 85 laps on his route to win. The race was slowed by five caution periods for a total of 51 laps.

IZOD IndyCar Series action resumes Saturday, June 23 at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton, Iowa.

RACE INFO:

DATE: June 16, 2012
EVENT: Milwaukee IndyFest
SERIES: IZOD IndyCar Series
LOCATION: Milwaukee Mile (1-mile, flat oval)
START/FINISH: 17th/25th (Mechanical, Completed 48 of 225 laps)
WINNER: Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport

Chevy Drivers Claim Top-Six Finishing Positions and Eight of Top-10 in Milwaukee IndyFest 

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]MILWAUKEE, Wisc (June 16, 2012) – Ryan Hunter-Reay came to the Milwaukee IndyFest presented by XYQ determined to repeat his 2004performance at the historic Milwaukee Mile, and he did just that. Leading a race-high 84 of the 225-lap race behind the wheel of the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Andretti Autsosports Chevrolet, Hunter-Reay became the third driver this season to take the Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 to Victory Lane in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

“It’s amazing. First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here,” said Hunter-Reay. “What a race.  I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it.  But getting a win for DHL, Sun Drop and Chevy, it’s unreal.”

But the Chevrolet teams weren’t done.  At the checkered flag, Chevrolet drivers captured the top-six finishing positions and eight of the top-10.  Standing alongside Hunter-Reay on the podium was Tony Kanaan, No. 11 GEICO/MOUSER Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, who finished second, and James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Andretti Autosport Chevrolet who captured third place.

“Congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosports on their victory today at Milwaukee,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “They clearly had the car to beat and their race strategy played out perfectly. Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe also had great drives to give the Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 all three podium positions.  It was a tremendous team showing today. Having Chevy-powered teams take the top-six finishing positions, and eight of the top 10, is very gratifying for everyone who works so hard on the Chevrolet IndyCar program.”

Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing Chevrolet, continued his strong surge by finishing fourth today. E.J. Viso, No. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet was fifth at the checkered flag. Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet, completed the Chevy top-six sweep.

Ed Carpenter, No. 22 Fuzzy’s Premium Ultra Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, rallied back from starting 22^ndand then going a lap-down in the first portion of the race to finish eighth. Rubens Barrichello, No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, rounded out the top-10 finishers.

The win is the first for Hunter-Reay this season who started second, and the sixth IndyCar win of his career.  The runner-up finish for Kanaan is his second podium this year, as well as the second podium for Hinchcliffe.

With today’s victory, Chevrolet continues to lead the Series’ Manufacturers’ standings with five wins in eight races.

With a 12^th place finish, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, remains on the top of the driver’s point standings. Hinchcliffe now sits second, with Hunter-Reay fourth in the standings and Castroneves sitting sixth with half the season in the record books. Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet and Servia are eighth, ninth and 10^th in points respectively.

Next on the schedule is Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa. The race is scheduled to start Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 9:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 94 and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 212. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at www.indy.car.com.

Fans can follow Team Chevy on Team Chevy Facebook, @TeamChevy on Twitter and on Google+.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V-6 DRIVER QUALIFYING QUOTES: 

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: “It’s amazing. First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here. What a race.  I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it.  But getting a win for DHL, Sun Drop and Chevy, it’s unreal. Hanging on to those last few restarts were too much. I don’t need that. That was grey area, for sure. The script is perfect. This is an Andretti SportsMarketing event.  (Team owner) Michael (Andretti) loves the sport and does a lot for it. Milwaukee and INDYCAR go hand-in-hand. This is the oldest racing facility in the country and we just won.  It’s awesome.

“I’m happy to be here in DHL Victory Circle!  That was so much work.  I think that was one of the most physical races I’ve ever driven.  I was just hanging onto it the whole time.  The car was awesome; the DHL / Sun Drop guys did a great job.  Firestone does a great job of making these races racier and making it more interesting for the fans.  The tires did fall off a bit, but they’re so reliable, you have the grip when you need it, and it was there for me all the way to the end.” 

 

TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 GEICO/MOUSER ELECTRONICS KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2^ND:  “I felt that for some reason we lost some speed during the race.  I couldn’t save fuel I had to run a full mission because I didn’t have enough for the guys in front.  Once we pitted and the yellow came out they said we were good to go to the end.  I was quite happy for second.  I tried on the restart and I saw how bad Ryan (Hunter-Reay) wanted it so I said you know what we will take second place.  A great result for Chevy one, two, three, the No. 11 boys and the crew did a great job on the stops.  Andretti guys help us out on the pit stops on the exit so I am extremely happy.  It was a great race. The grandstands were packed I love this.  Hopefully we come back to this place it an awesome place.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3^RD: “Yeah it feels good what a cool track, what a cool place to come here and get a good result.  How about Andretti Autosport?  First and third, I’m so happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and a Chevy one, two, three.  A long race out there, a lot of fun, Chevy one, two, three, four look at that Oriol Servia guys.  Thanks to all the fans and everyone who came out, not only stayed out through that rain delay, I hope they enjoyed the show.  It was a lot of fun.  I hope they enjoyed watching it. “Today was a tremendous day for the team all around. First of all, congratulations to Ryan (Hunter-Reay) on his win. He drove a heck of a race and really deserved it after the luck he has had the last couple of weeks. For him to bounce back like that, I am really happy for him. I am so happy for all of the Go Daddy guys. We had a strong car. It was tough in traffic out there. I really wish we would have had a stronger qualifying run and started high up. My guys were great in the pits and the car was quick when it needed to be. To pull off the podium in that last stint just shows we never give up. That has been our thing all season long. We found ourselves down a bit a couple times and we always seem to rally back by the checkered flag. Huge credit to Andretti Autosport and this event for Andretti Sports Marketing to be the ones promotingit. Thanks to the fans for sticking through it during the rain delay, it was great to see the stands almost full and I think we put on a good show for them. We are all stoked to be back in Milwaukee and I am really happy for Michael (Andretti). To have Chevy back in Winner’s Circle with a podium sweep is a cool thing to be a part of.”

ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 PANTHER/DREYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4^TH: “I’m extremely happy especially for where we were yesterday.  Congratulations to the team they did a great job on the set-up we changed the whole car.  We weren’t as quick as the three cars in front of me.  I’m very happy from where we started to finish.It was a great car. I had trusted my guys they always give me a great car on race day and that is when they get the points.  I’m very happy for me, the team, Chevy and everybody.” 

E.J. VISO, NO. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5^TH: “I’m happy for the weekend. I think KV Racing Technology had a pretty good and strong car. We definitely saw that. I’m real upset about this race. I think we could have won this race or finished on the podium. That’s a no brainer. But once again the strategy didn’t turn out to be in our way.” 

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6^TH: “We took a gamble today with the pit strategy in the No. 3 Penske Truck Rental car. The car was running really well and we thought we could be aggressive with our plan. We definitely had a car that could win the race today but I am still happy with our result. I will take sixth place and look to do better next week at Iowa.”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH:  “Hopefully in the future, we’ll qualify further up front and we won’t have to pass so many cars.  The team again gave me a good race car and I was able to be aggressive and drive up through the field.  They were awesome on pit stops too.  Just a great job by the whole team after being down to one chassis since Indy.  It felt good to drive towards the front.  I’m happy we got eighth today because it’s a season best, but I thought we could have had a the top five. We got up to sixth before the last restart.  But Marco checkered up in turn one and I had to hit the brakes. Nothing against him because I have been his spot before.  It’s a tough position for a lapped driver.  I’m very happy that a Chevy is back in the winner’s circle and I’m happy for Ryan too.  I feel we have some momentum now after today’s race and a strong test at Iowa.  I think we can be very competitive next week at Iowa Speedway.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO, NO. 8 BMC/EMBRASE KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10^TH

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12^TH: “The Verizon crew fought hard out there today. I thought we had a pretty good car but the restarts were really difficult.  Not the worst result today but we expect to do better every time we come to race. We are still on top of the points, which is where we want to be, and now will look forward to Iowa.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET. FINISHED 14^TH: “Really tough day out there for the No.2 Hitachi Team Penske car.  We completely missed the balance in the start of the race and we are not really sure why, but by the end of the race we were really strong after we changed the rear wing and aero balance. I think we ended as strong as anyone out there so it was a really positive finish. But unfortunately after going two laps down in the beginning we were just fighting for the small positions. Iowa is up next and we will get things back on track there.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15^TH: “Wasn’t the day we hoped for with the RC Cola car, but happy for my teammate Ryan (Hunter-Reay). I think we had a tired engine but can’t confirm with running it on the dyno. We fell back and just didn’t have the power I needed to get through traffic. Late in the race we developed a break leak in the right rear which meant I had to depend on just my front breaks. It’s disappointing but we’ll move on to Iowa. I won there last year and am looking to return and defend my win.”

KATHERINE LEGGE, NO. 6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18^TH

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22^ND:  “We had a pretty good run going there, even though we got caught out a little bit on that first yellow. We were having an overheating issue, and through the yellow we couldn’t get any clean air to get the thing cooled down. I think we had something jammed in the radiator. We pitted once to pick some things out of there, but I think the damage was already done at that point; once these things get up to a certain temperature they just shut down. We were running around in traffic all day, so we didn’t have much clean air, and with the humidity so high here that didn’t help. It’s obviously just an unfortunate deal for us and a bummer for the entire National Guard Panther team.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

RACE NOTES/QUOTES—- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 16, 2012

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]Fast Facts:

Oriol Servia

^ After the race Servia joked that he should just chill during the race weekend and just show up for the race. In seven races, Servia has gained a total of 89 positions (7 positions in St. Pete to finish 16th, 13 positions in Barber to finish 13th, 7 positions in Long Beach to finish 16th, 12 positions in Brazil to finish 11th, 23 positions in Indianapolis to finish 4th, 11 positions in Detroit to finish 5th, and 16 positions in Milwaukee to finish 4th).

^ Since making the switch to Chevy power, Panther DRR and Oriol Servia have earned three top-five results in four races, tying with a season best of fourth place (was 4th in the Indy 500).

^ Oriol started 20th and continuously moved up during the race. He pitted for the first time on lap 61 for fuel and tires and again on Lap 75 to top off on fuel. Servia came in on Lap 97 and Lap 169 for fuel and tires. After that stop, he went from P8 to P4 and was good until the end of the race.

^ On the Lap 192 restart, Servia passed Helio Castroneves for 3rd position. He tried to hang onto 3rd, but James Hinchcliffe passed him on Lap 217 and Servia would bring the Charter car home in 4th place.

^ Servia qualified 22nd for the Milwaukee IndyFest, but started 20th due to other cars ahead of him that were penalized. He was 4th in line yesterday for qualifying and secured a spot on the grid with a two-lap average qualifying speed of 160.375 mph.

^ This weekend marked Servia’s 11th start at the historic Milwaukee Mile track (his first two starts at the one-mile oval were in 1998 and 1999 in Indy Lights).

^ Last year he started 10th and finished 3rd. In 2008, Servia finished 6th after starting 9th. He Finished 2nd in the Champ Car race at the track in 2003.

^ Last weekend in Texas, Servia started the race 11th, but his day ended early due to a fuel pressure problem. He finished the day in 20th position.

^ This year’s Indianapolis 500 marked a career-best result in the race for Oriol Servia and Panther DRR. It was the Spaniard’s fourth start and he finished the day with his best result for the race, which was 4th place. It was the same story for the team. The race was Panther DRR’s 13th start and their best result for the Indianapolis 500 race as well. The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix marked the second top-five finish in a row for Panther DRR and Oriol Servia.
Servia piloted the No. 22 Charter primary livery for the second time this season. Charter is a leading broadband communications company, and the nation’s fourth-largest cable operator providing broadband entertainment and communications services that includes advanced Charter TVTM, Charter InternetTM access, and Charter PhoneTM to homes and businesses across 25 states.

^ Last year Oriol Finished fourth in IZOD IndyCar Series standings….Recorded 11 top-10 finishes, with a best of second at New Hampshire and Baltimore….Among three drivers to be running at the finish in all 17 races….. Led all drivers in laps completed (2,103 of 2,011)….Oriol was the only driver to finish in the top 10 in first five races of the season.

^ This weekend marked Panther DRR’s 8th time to compete at the one-mile oval as they earned their best result ever at the historic cirucuit. The team has started at least one car in every race at the track since 2004. Last year Justin Wilson started 13th and finished 10th and Ana Beatriz started 11th and finished 17th. In 2008,Buddy Rice and Townsend Bell finished team best of 10th and 11th. DRR has led a total of 37 laps at The Milwaukee Mile.

Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the Milwaukee IndyFest Race: “I said it before the race to somebody that said you cannot pass here and I said you will see if the car is good you can pass here. We had a very good Charter car. Again, I want to say thank you to the guys. I had all of my trust in the guys and they always give me a good car. They worked so hard overnight because we changed everything in the car with the wheelbase, roll centers, springs and cambers. As I joked, luckily they didn’t change the driver and the engine, which were the only things left. Everything else was better and we had a good car. It was when I got to the top-three cars because they definitely had better pace than me. I tried really hard to hold Hinch back and he was faster and I couldn’t stop him. This was another great race and four races with Chevy and we’ve had three top-five results. I’m very happy for me, the team, Chevy and everybody.”

 

Back on Track: Panther DRR will be back on track next weekend for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton, Iowa. The race is scheduled at 10:00 pm ET. Live coverage will be on the NBC Sports Network and the IMS RadioNetwork. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com for more updates.

About Panther DRR:

Panther DRR will be entering its 13th season of full-time competition in 2012, making it one of the longest-tenured teams in IZOD IndyCar Series competition. Current Co-Owners, Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl, first teamed in full-time competition at the Walt Disney World Speedway in January of 2000. With Buhl behind the wheel, the two owners tasted victory in their debut race. DRR now has over 305 starts to tuck under its belt and has qualified a total of 31 cars for the Indianapolis 500. In its history, the team has boasted a championship list of alumni drivers. Besides Buhl, the team has run Indianapolis 500 winners, Al Unser, Jr., Buddy Lazier, and Buddy Rice, along with IZOD IndyCar Series race winner, Ryan Briscoe. The team has one of the longest lines of heritage in American open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 as Dennis Reinbold’s grandfather, “Pop” Dreyer, built leading roadsters that raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]WEST ALLIS, Wis., Saturday, June 16, 2012 – For the eighth consecutive race, rookie Simon Pagenaud has been running at the finish of an IZOD IndyCar Series event. It’s consistent performances like he produced in Saturday’s MilwaukeeIndyFest that are keeping him near the top-five in championship points.

After starting seventh, the Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports driver finished 13^th in Saturday’s 225-lap IZOD IndyCar Series race that was part of the Milwaukee IndyFest on The MilwaukeeMile in West Allis, Wis.

Driving the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Dallara/Honda/Firestone car, Pagenaud finished one lap down to the leaders, but was still running competitive laps times all the way to the finish.

An ill-timed pit stop and an error during another pit stop cost valuable time that put the HP car down one lap on two different occasions. Through hard driving and strong strategy, the team was able to gain one lap back early in the race. But Pagenaud could not overcome the final one-lap deficit.

“It was a good race, but I wasted an opportunity to score a lot of points,” said Pagenaud after the race. “I’m very disappointed in that factor. The HP guys did a really good job providing me a good car. We ran every lap, so I’ll have good experience for next year.”

Though he finished one lap down, Pagenaud was running with the leaders late in the race, proving that he had a good race car under him.

“I was running with the leaders and, unfortunately, I think that’s something we could have done all day long,” said Pagenaud. “But I didn’t help my self in the pits there. I’m obviously not up to speed with an oval car in the pits. But, it’s going to get better. As I learn ovals, I’m going to go through phases.”

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Milwaukee IndyFest by 5.1029 seconds over KV Racing’s Tony Kanaan. It’s Huner-Reay’s second win at Milwaukee, his sixth career IndyCar win and his first win in 2012.

Kanaan’s second-place finish was his best in 2012. He finished third at Indianapolis and fourth at Long Beach.

Hunter-Reay’s teammate at Andretti Autosport, James Hinchclifffe, finished third. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Oriol Servia and KV Racing’s EJ Viso rounded out the top five.

The race was slowed by five caution flags for a total of 51 yellow-flag laps.

With a 12^th-place finish, Will Power maintains his lead in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship with 274 points. Hincliffe climbs into second place with 243 points on the strength of his podium finish inMilwaukee. Scott Dixon is now third with 239, while Hunter-Reay is fourth with 233. Castroneves rounds out the top five with 231, and Pagenaud is sixth with 216.

So far in 2012, there have been 1,063 laps of racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Pagenaud has completed the most laps of all drivers this year. He and the HP team have completed 1,061 of the 1,063 possible laps of competition to date.

The next IZOD IndyCar Series event is the Iowa Corn 250 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, on Saturday night, June 23, 2012.

Team Places Two Cars in Top-Five and All Three in Top-Ten

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]WEST ALLIS, WI – June 16, 2012 – KV Racing Technology driver Tony Kanaan finished second in today’s rain-delayed Milwaukee IndyFest on the fabledMilwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin.  Teammates E. J. Viso and Rubens Barrichello placed fifth and 10^th respectively.

Kanaan, in the No. 11 GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone machine, qualified 10^th, but started sixth afterpenalties were assessed to drivers whose teams had made an unauthorized engine change.  He moved into fifth place on the opening lap and remained there until pitting for the first time on lap 62 of the 225 lap contest.  Kanaan rejoined the race in ninth, where he stayed until his second stop, during a yellow flag on lap 98.  Coming out in eighth, Kanaan held station until lap 154 when he moved into seventh place after Helio Castroneves, who did not pit during the earlier caution period, pitted under green flag conditions.  Kanaan made his final stop on lap 169 and when he came back out had an outstanding first, “out”, lap.  Most of the field pitted over the course of the next four laps and because of the exception “out” lap, Kanaan picked up track position and moved into third place with 50 laps remaining.  He passed Castroneves for second on lap 178 and then began to attack Ryan Hunter-Reay in an attempt to take the lead.  Unfortunately, Hunter-Reay proved to be too strong, holding off every attack, and in the latter stages of the race Hunter-Reay pulled away.

“I am extremely happy, it was a great race,” Kanaan said.  “When the last yellow came out my engineers told me I was good to the end and I was happy to take the second.  It’s a great result for Chevrolet, one, two and three.  I have to thank GEICO and Mouser Electronics as well as my personal sponsors.  My No.11 crew did a great job today and thanks to the Andretti boys for helping us out when I exited my pit box.  The grandstands were packed today and I hope we come back to this track next year, it’s an awesome place”.

Kanaan, made his 13^th appearance at Milwaukee today (ran five races in CART).  He has now finished in the top-10 seven times with two wins (2006 and 2007) and has not placed worse than fourth in six of his last eight starts on the Milwaukee Mile (two wins, a second, a third and two fourths).  The 37-year old Brazilian has finished seven of the eight races this year falling out only in the season opener at St. Petersburg due to a non-team related component failure.  He has earned four top-six finishes, a sixth in Detroit, a third at Indy and a fourth in Long Beach to go with today’s second place performance.  Kanaan earned 40 points today moving him into eighth in the championship race with 200 points, just 74 points behind championship leader Will Power.

Viso, driving the No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone car, qualified eighth, but started a season-high tying fifth after moving up the grid as a result of the penalties.  He fell to sixth following the drop of the green flag where he held station until his first stop on lap 67.  Just as Viso entered pit lane for the stop the track went under a caution yellow.  The fortuitous situation vaulted Viso into the lead where he remained for the next 27 laps, his first lead laps of the season, until pitting for the second time on lap 98.  Following the stop Viso came back out in third place with Castroneves, who gambled and stayed out, in the lead and Hunter-Reay second.   Both Hunter-Reay and Viso did not wait for Castroneves to pit, passing the Brazilian on lap 142 and 143 respectively.  Viso, now in second place, stayed there until his final stop on lap 173 and rejoining the race in eighth place.  He remained in eighth for the next 28 laps then took advantage of a restart, following the final caution of the race, to move up three places and take possession of fifth.  Over the next 25 laps he attacked first James Hinchcliffe then Oriol Servia in a valiant attempts to move into fourth place.  However, Hinchcliffe held Viso off using several questionable moves that many observers felt constituted blocking and by the time Viso began to challenge Servia there were simply not enough laps remaining to make the pass and move up.

Viso’s fifth place finish was his best showing in four starts on the Milwaukee Mile surpassing an eighth place performance in 2008.  Today’s performance was Viso best of the season and second best on an oval surpassed only by a third place podium finish in Iowa in 2010.  The 27-year-old Venezuelan has now finished seven of the eight races this year. His only DNF (did not finish) came last week in Texas as a result of a non-team related component failure.  Viso, who has finished in the top-10 three times in the first eight races of the 2012 season (eighth at St. Petersburg and 10^th at Brazil), scored 30 points today and is 14^th in the standings with 148 points, just 25 points out of 10^th place.

Barrichello in the No. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone entry, qualified a season-high fifth, but started third after the penalties.   He dropped to fourth on the first lap and held position until his first stop on lap 67 when he, like Viso, benefitted from the caution that came out just as he entered pit lane.  The timely yellow flag allowed Barrichello to take over second place where he remained until lap 98 when he pitted for the second time.  Barrichelllo came back out in seventh place, but was back in the top-five, at No. 5, by lap 125.  He took over fourth when Castroneves pitted on lap 154.  Barrichello stopped for the third and final time on lap 172 and rejoined the race in seventh place.  He made several attempts to move up, but ended up falling back three positions over the course of the final laps.

 

Barrichello, who contested just his second career oval race (he did not start in Texas because of a non-team related component failure) and first at Milwaukee, clearly had his best race of the season.  The 40-year-old Brazilian and Formula One veteran was in contention for a top-five, if not podium, finish for much of the race.  He had his fourth top-10 performance of the season (eighth at Barber, ninth at Long Beach and 10^th at Brazil) and scored his first top-10 finish on an oval.   In his only other oval start, his inaugural Indy 500, he finished 11^th earning the Chase Rookie of the Year honors.  Barrichello has now finished six of the eight races this year.  Both his DNFs (did not finish) came as a result of non-team related component failures (at Detroit and Texas). Barrichelllo earned 20 points today and is now 16^th in the championship standings with 138 points, just 35 points out of 10th.

Next up for KVRT is the Iowa Corn Indy 250, June 22-23, at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.  The race will be broadcast live on Saturday, June 23 on NBC starting at 8:00 p.m. ET.

KV Racing Technology was founded in January 2003 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2008.  The Indianapolis based team is owned by successful venture capitalist Kevin Kalkhoven and 1996 IndyCar Champion Jimmy Vasser.  Veteran Motorsports manager, Mark Johnson, is the team’s General Manager.  Johnson is assisted by Team Manager Tom Wurtz, Technical Director Eric Cowdin and Operations Manager Steve Moore.

For more information about KV Racing Technology visit: www.kvracingtechnology.com or follow us on Twitter:www.twitter.com/kvracing and Facebook: www.facebook.com/kvracingtechnology

[media-credit name=”milwaukeeindyfest.com” align=”alignright” width=”210″][/media-credit]WEST ALLIS, Wis. (June 16, 2012) – Helio Castroneves’ sixth-place finish led Team Penske’s effort Saturday in the Milwaukee IndyFest at The Milwaukee Mile.

Teammate Will Power held on to the lead in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship race by finishing 12^th In the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet, while Ryan Briscoe finished 14^th in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske machine.

Castroneves led the 225-lap race on two separate occasions for a total of 50 laps around the historic oval in the No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Dallara/Chevrolet – the third highest total among the race leaders on the day. The three-time Indianapolis 500 champion effectively ran a two pit-stop strategy in the race and he is now ranked fifth in the championship standings with 231 points with Saturday’s finish.

“We took a gamble today with the pit strategy in the No. 3 Penske Truck Rentalcar,” said Castroneves. “The car was running really well and we thought we could be aggressive with our plan. We definitely had a car that could win the race today but I am still happy with our result. I will take sixth place and look to do better next week at Iowa.”

Power and Briscoe were both penalized 10 starting grid positions after Friday’s qualifying for changing engines before the race and they were not able to fight through the traffic to get to the front of the field. Power, who has a series-high three wins at the midpoint of the 2012 season, briefly flirted with the top five in the running order before continuing to run just outside the top 10.

“The entire Verizon crew fought hard out there today,” said Power. “I thought we had a pretty good car but the restarts were really difficult.  Not the worst result today, but we expect to do better every time we come to race. We are still on top of the points, which is where we want to be, and now will look forward to Iowa.”

Briscoe, who finished a team-high third last week at Texas Motor Speedway, is now ranked ninth in the standings with 193 points. The 2008 Milwaukee Mile winner spent the majority of the race fighting to overcome imbalances with his car.

“Really tough day out there for the No.2 Hitachi Team Penske car,” said Briscoe. “We completely missed the balance at the start of the race, but by the end of the race we were really strong after we changed the rear wing and aero balance. I think we ended as strong as anyone out there so it was a really positive finish.”

Saturday’s race was won by Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport, representing the sixth winner in eight series races this season.

Team Penske will head to Iowa next Saturday looking to claim its first victory at Iowa Speedway. Live coverage of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 begins June 23 at 10 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network.

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